Viggo Mortensen Calls Out Amazon’s “Greed” For Putting ‘Thirteen Lives’ On Streaming; Explains Why He Avoids Franchise Roles Since ‘Lord Of The Rings’

Armando Tinoco
·3 min read
1

Viggo Mortensen is calling out Amazon for its handling of the Ron Howard film Thirteen Lives, which he starred in alongside Colin Farrell.

In a new interview, the actor called out the studio for scrapping the global release of the Thai cave rescue thriller to push it to their Prime Video streaming service.

More from Deadline

“They were going to put it out worldwide in many, many, many thousands of theaters,” Mortensen told Vanity Fair. “Then Amazon bought MGM, initially promised to respect the deal that MGM had made with Ron Howard, and then they went back on that. Basically you saw that movie for a week in Chicago, New York and LA, London, and that was that. Then you had the streaming, which I thought was really sad. It’s a really well-shot movie.”

Mortensen said this was “the first time I’d worked on a huge-budget movie in a long time” and called Thirteen Lives “a really good movie,” which opened in select theaters on July 29, 2022.

“They have all their excuses for why they did that, but it comes down to greed,” he added. “How much money do you need? I think Amazon could certainly have respected the deal, as they said they were going to, and released it widely in theaters and let it have its run. And then they could have also made money streaming. But they figured it would be more cost-effective—i.e., they would make more money—if they didn’t have to bother with spending money on promoting it and putting in theaters, and sharing that money with theaters, frankly. That’s what it comes down to. To me, it’s greed.”

Mortensen called Amazon’s decision “shortsighted” and defended Howard, adding he “has made so much money for studios, who was so deservedly well recognized as a filmmaker historically—to do that to a guy like him I think is appalling. He’s a very nice guy, so he hasn’t gone out there complaining about it, but I’m happy to do it for him. I’m not speaking for him, I’m just speaking for myself. I think it was shameful what they did.”

The actor also explained why he has avoided big franchises following his starring role in the Lord of the Rings film saga.

“I don’t really look for or avoid any kind of genre or any size budget,” he said. “I just look for interesting stories. It doesn’t matter to me what the genre is or what the budget is or who’s making them. I would never do a movie just because so-and-so is directing it.It has to be about the story. And if I think I’m right for the character, that always comes first.”

He continued, “That goes for franchises. If somebody came to me with X movie, the third part or the ninth part, and I thought it was a great character and I wanted to play that character and I thought I had something to contribute, I’d do it. I’m not against it. But they’re not usually that good. I mean, to me, they’re not usually that well written. They’re kind of predictable. I mean, of course there’s always the issue of if I run out of money.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next